Remember CD-ROMs? They were totally gonna revolutionize computer technology, owing to the fusion of video, audio, text, and interactivity. Or some such. It sounded like a good idea at the time and the concept commanded an impressive premium. The reason I bring this up is because I recently scavenged several in a series of outlandishly expensive CD-ROM storybooks published for the Apple Macintosh computers circa 1990. By outlandishly expensive, I mean in the range of $70-$85 per disc (about $110-$130 in today’s dollars).

I’m not usually interested in collecting very old Mac software; the only reason I snatched these up was because of the ridiculous prices on the front of each. The thrift store had forgotten to mark its own price tags on these CD-ROMs and the cashier was tempted to charge me the full $70-$85 for each disc until I gently reminded him that it was unlikely that any single item in the entire store was priced that high. We settled on a dollar each.

One of these CD-ROMs came with a vintage Apple business card, someone who held the position of “Account Executive – Education”, at an address I don’t recognize (i.e., not at Infinite Loop in Cupertino). Makes me wonder if the office predates the main Cupertino campus. Digital archaeology is a young science.

Tablet computers seem set to run with the interactive torch; Apple’s tablet computer leads the way for now. I wonder if the latest innovations in interactive applications on such devices will seem quaintly ridiculous in 10-20 years?

For search engines’ benefit, these are the titles:

• The Paper Bag Princess by Robert N. Munsch
• Thomas’ Snowsuit by R. Munsch and M. Martchenko
• A Long Hard Day on the Ranch by Audrey Nelson
• Cinderella: The Original Fairy Tale
• Scary Poems For Rotten Kids by Sean Ohuigin